


right here

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Love, Melodramatic, peridot does somethinking, pre 'are you my dad', romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 14:04:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20210995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Peridot isn't entirely sure how many seconds pass between waking Lapis up and leaning in to kiss her. Maybe a thousand. Maybe none at all.





	right here

Lapis had fallen asleep. Curled quietly against the truck bed, one arm draped protectively across her stomach, the other tucked near her face. Her breathing was slow and easy and she looked calm. Peridot catalogued moments like these; comparing her peaceful sleep with her restless sleep. She might stop worrying when the peaceful outweighed the restless, but for now, Peridot assigned herself to sit quietly nearby and watch. Camp Pining Hearts played on their small TV, the video sending waves of flickering yellow light around the room, that turned the shadows of Lapis's hair green.

Peridot wondered briefly when the care started. She'd certainly cared when Lapis had tumbled into Homeworld, eyes wide and mouth stoic, instantly summoned to Blue Diamond. Hours had passed, and then Lapis had been deposited to her. 

'I was on Earth,' Lapis had said in a small voice. 'I'm to come with you as an informant.' 

She recalled her aggressive treatment of Lapis while they travelled to Earth. The routine check ups, never breaching the holding cell, drilling her for information with Jasper right beside her. Back when Peridot thought that Homeworld was justified in their conquering of the universe. Lapis had barely said a word, only given the most basic of information surrounding the organic life and growth of culture on Earth, bur refusing to speak beyond that. It had been frustrating at the time, and Peridot had visited almost hourly to try and get the necessary information out of Lapis.

Peridot had definitely cared about her then, but it had been different. 

Because she hadn't thought twice when abandoning the ship. She hadn't thought twice as she countlessly evaded the Crystal Gems, back when they were enemies. She hadn't thought about Lapis at all.

Maybe she started to care again in the rain. When Steven ran and laughed and Peridot placed a cautious hand into the storm and thought 'A Lapis would appreciate this.' And her mind flashed to the Lapis sitting next to her. The only Lapis she'd ever had a pleasure of knowing. 

She hadn't thought of it as a pleasure at the time. 

Lapis shifted in her sleep, rolling on to her back. Peridot watched carefully for any more signs of discomfort, but Lapis settled back into her slumber and Peridot relaxed. 

Steven had explained what had happened to her. The existence of Malachite at the bottom of the ocean. A shiver had run down Peridot's spine at the thought. Fusion was never her job, and Peridot barely even liked to think about it. The idea of willingly fusing with a power like Jasper and mentally dominating her to ensure the safety of the Crystal Gems was unthinkable. Maybe Peridot had started caring then; imagining the mental strain it had on Lapis and rooting for her wellbeing. 

As if Lapis could sense that what Peridot was thinking, her brows furrowed, her mouth pulled tight. The hand on her stomach dug into her waist and Peridot reached out and touched her fingertips to that hand, willed the worry to drain out of it. Maybe Lapis really could tell what Peridot was thinking. She relaxed. Slightly. Peridot exhaled with her. 

Meeting Lapis, really truly meeting her for the first time, opened a level of care that was something entirely new to Peridot. Care that started in her chest and raced down her limbs until Peridot was practically shaking with the sensation. As Lapis stood, unimpressed with everything Peridot offered, the feeling fought to surface against Peridot's new self doubt. This irreversible sensation, that still hadn't fully gone away. A feeling that swelled like the ocean when Lapis pulled the Ruby ship out of the air and smacked it on the ground, sparing an unimpressed glance over her shoulder to check on Peridot. 

Maybe that was when the care began. This unparalleled care. Peridot couldn't even remember her ranking when she thought of how much she cared about Lapis. None of it mattered. Earth didn't care. Lapis didn't care. And Peridot wouldn't either. 

Peridot kicked the remote. It happened suddenly. A tiny shift to adjust her comfort, and suddenly, the plastic controller was ricocheting off the side of the truck bed and onto the ground far below, turning the subtitles on to Camp Pining Hearts as it fell. Lapis sat up instantly, her arm shooting out to grab the back of the truck, her eyes darting around wildly. 

'Oh,' she said after a moment of assessing the situation. 

'You okay,' Peridot asked, concerned, and Lapis nodded in response, sliding her hand down to the truck bed and looking at Peridot with a grateful smile.

And there's something confirming about the smile. In small moments like this Peridot felt okay caring so much. When Lapis smiles at her from across the barn or when they can laugh over inside jokes in front of Garnet. Lapis flinging a congratulatory arm around Peridot's shoulders as she works on her ferrokinesis. Consoling each other during thunderstorms. The never acknowledged strolls they take at daybreak, their hours spent farming, the thankful squeeze from Lapis's hand when Peridot wakes her from a nightmare. 

A few seconds had passed, or maybe none at all, before Peridot sat up and leaned forward. She searched Lapis for a sign, a green light. And Lapis closed the gap. 

Peridot decided to rethink every moment she'd ever spent with Lapis up until that moment. No matter what, any and all of it was worth it for the swelling sensation of _absolute_ that rattled through her. Caring about Lapis was the absolute perfect decision, because Lapis kissed Peridot like Peridot was the horizon and she was the sun, slowly sinking further and further against her. Like it was inevitable. She reached up and grabbed Peridot's face with both hands, her fingertips pressing against Peridot's temples, and Peridot lifted a hesitant hand to Lapis's neck. Peridot's fingers splayed from her ear to the nape of her neck, and her thumb brushed Lapis's jaw once, twice. Lapis sighed and pulled away, and Peridot hadn't realized she'd closed her eyes until she opened them. Lapis was grinning furiously, eyes closed, and she slowly pressed her forehead to Peridot's.

And then she started laughing. 

'Uhhh,' Peridot frowned. 'Paulette's never started laughing after kissing Percy.'

Lapis sat up straighter, opening her eyes, and moving her hand her hand until her forefinger brushed Peridot's lips. 'It took you long enough.'

Peridot bristled slightly. 'Hey, I was waiting for you!'

Lapis began to laugh harder, unable to kiss Peridot properly, though it didn't stop her from trying. She kept laughing as they sat nose to nose. 'I know you were.' She began to calm down in the seconds that followed and she fixed Peridot with an intense look. Peridot had never seen vulnerability, but Lapis looked at her like she understood the word 'secret' all too well, and was choosing to ignore it. When she said 'Thank you,' it was soft and smile-laced. Peridot heard the ocean roar when they kissed again.

Maybe Peridot hadn't cared at all before this moment. Because anything that came before didn't compare to the warmth that all encompassing now. The rattling sensation from before was gone. Now, all Peridot felt was absolute. Absolutely sure that this is what she was fighting for. Whatever she had, right here, in Beach City, was worth the rain storms and non sentient vegetation. Worth anything else on the Earth and beyond it. 

Lapis tucked herself against Peridot's neck, and her breath tickled her collarbone. 

Yeah. This felt like home.

**Author's Note:**

> short n sweet. just like peri. 
> 
> enjoy


End file.
